NYC lawyers call on Bronx Zoo’s last 2 elephants Happy and Patty to be moved to animal sanctuary as concerns over care grow
The last two elephants at the Bronx Zoo should be immediately moved to an animal sanctuary, a group of Big Apple lawyers contended Wednesday as questions about the pair’s care continue to swirl.
The New York City Bar wants the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) — which operates the famous zoo — to either voluntarily give up the two elephants, Happy and Patty, or request city agencies to seize the animals that have called the Bronx home for around 50 years.
“We implore the City, acting through its various agencies and the City Council, to relieve Happy’s and Patty’s obvious suffering and exercise its powers and/or its influence to allow Happy and Patty the chance to live out the remainder of their lives at an accredited sanctuary, free of the impoverishments they have been forced to endure,” the attorneys argued to Department of Health of Mental Hygiene, Department of Parks and Recreation and other city officials and agencies.
The demand comes as the Bronx Zoo was named the second worst zoo for elephants due to the alleged “cruel confinement” of the gentle giants.
The pair of Asian elephants are allegedly kept in cramped enclosures thousands of times smaller than their natural range, which can lead to numerous physical and mental stress problems, according to In Defense of Animals, which compiled the ranking last month.
The letter from the NYC Bar’s president and animal law committee co-chairs noted that Happy vanished from public view for ten weeks last summer before she reappeared in her zoo enclosure.
She was then observed lying on her side with foot damage, the lawyers claimed – though zoo officials at the time insisted there was nothing wrong with the animal.
“It’s quite normal for healthy elephants to lie down and actually shows she is comfortable and feels secure in that area,” a spokesperson said over the summer.
In 2018, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of Happy in hopes of freeing the animal, but it was tossed in 2022.
NYC Bar lawyers argued Tuesday the city has the power to intervene because taxpayer funds flow to the zoo that operates on city-owned land.
“New Yorkers, whose tax money supports these budgets and who care deeply about the physical and psychological well-being of zoo animals, deserve to know that there is adequate oversight by the City of its funding,” the letter states, “and the zoo fund-recipient, and that the animals under the zoo’s care enjoy robust physical and psychological health.”
A WCS dismissed the lawyers’ claims in a statement to Gothamist, insisting the request to relocate Happy and Patty is part of a misinformation campaign and that the animals are well taken care of.
“WCS and the Bronx Zoo have long been subjected to targeted harassment regarding our Asian elephants,” WCS spokesperson Mary Dixon said.
She noted there is a team of veterinarians and other professionals who monitor the two animals “constantly.”
“We are inspected by the USDA and accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums with no violations cited,” Dixon added.
